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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

SPECTRUM FANTASTIC ART LIVE: DAY ONE

I
was supposed to update this blog nightly after the events of the day but I knew
after the first day that was going to be impossible. I was having way too much fun and was
thoroughly exhausted at the end of each night.
By now there are several beautifully written reviews on fan blogs. This review is for the artists that didn’t
come and the artists that aspire to join the ranks of professional exhibitors
in the future.

Spectrum Fantastic Art Live - Bartle Hall Grand Ballroom

As
I stated in an earlier post, I had not done a large art convention in over 10
years so when I set out for Kansas City Missouri on May 17th 2012 it
was with two goals. First was to share
my art and love of this genre with anyone who stopped by my booth. Second, to meet as many of the amazingly
talented artists in the room as possible.
I’m thankful to the organizers of the event for creating such a terrific
experience and for letting me take part in the inaugural Spectrum Fantastic Art
Live. The opportunity to meet
artists I admire, enjoy the camaraderie and interact with fans made the trip
worthwhile.

Day
one started out with setting up the booth JP Targete and I would share. I wandered around a bit to see how others
were setting up their spaces.

Each had a
unique way of decorating their 10’x10’ booth and promoting the space. I was so overwhelmed by everything on the
first day that I had a mild anxiety attack.
(Not the breathe into a paper bag
kind) more like (let me sit down
before I faint and collapse on a small child)

Rockstar Games Art Director, Daren Bader

I had no idea what to expect at first since I'm not a part of the usual crowd of illustrators that attend events like this. A
number of artists I met years ago or only knew through forums stopped by the
booth to say hello. Warm greetings from
Daren Bader, Ron Lemen, Vanessa Lemen and a few others put me at ease and I
thoroughly enjoyed myself after the first few minutes of day one. Apparently there were more people aware of my work than I originally thought.

1 comment:

Just wanted to say "thanks" again for all your invaluable advice, etc. I've still got a long way to go on my artistic journey; but if I keep running into individuals as generous as J.P. and yourself I'll get there sooner than later.